Essay: Remembering Michael Steinberg’s Impact on Music Criticism

By the Editorial Team · Sunday, September 20, 2026

Michael Steinberg, a Jewish refugee rescued by the Kindertransport in 1939, became a renowned classical music critic for The Boston Globe, whose collected writings have now been published in an anthology. This collection highlights the lasting importance of knowledgeable and independent music criticism at a time when such roles are increasingly diminished in mainstream media.

In May 1939, a young Jewish boy named Carl Michael Alfred Israel Steinberg—later known as Michael Steinberg—embarked on a harrowing journey from Nazi Germany to England aboard a Kindertransport train. The photograph capturing Steinberg and seven other boys framed in a train window at Berlin-Charlottenburg station symbolizes a poignant moment amid the threat facing Jews under Hitler’s regime. At just 10 years old, Steinberg viewed the trip as a thrilling adventure, unaware that it would mark his passage to safety from the growing dangers in his homeland.

The Kindertransport program helped rescue more than 9,000 Jewish children from Nazi persecution, though entry into England was far from assured and fraught with bureaucratic obstacles. Steinberg’s own account reflects the difficulty of escape despite the Nazis’ intent to expel Jews. Assisted by a family friend who later perished in a concentration camp, Steinberg was placed with an English family that cared for him as one of their own. His mother subsequently escaped Breslau, and the two reunited in the United States, settling in St. Louis where his older brother had previously emigrated.

Though Steinberg initially showed limited skill as a performer, he nurtured a deep passion for music that shaped his career. After completing his education at Princeton University, he adopted the name Michael and began writing music criticism alongside teaching. His career took a defining turn when he joined The Boston Globe as a classical music critic, a post he held for 12 years. Steinberg developed a reputation for insightful, articulate criticism marked by a personal and engaging style, blending wit and clear analysis accessible to both specialists and lay readers.

A newly published anthology titled *Defending the Music: Michael Steinberg at The Boston Globe, 1964-1976* compiles the critic’s extensive body of work during this period. The collection offers an opportunity to revisit Steinberg’s evaluations of Boston-area musical life as well as his broader considerations of composers and performers. His reviews displayed a commitment to rigorous, independent judgment that could be incisive and occasionally severe, exemplified by his critique of Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3 (“Kaddish”), which he described as marked by “unashamed vulgarity” and criticized for its text.

Steinberg’s approach treated music criticism as an essential element of the cultural ecosystem, valuing his role as a mediator who brought music closer to audiences. His essays projected warmth and intellectual rigor, often making complex musical concepts accessible without condescension. The publication of his collected writings arrives at a time when classical music criticism has diminished significantly in mainstream media, with many leading critics retired and positions left unfilled amid shifting editorial priorities.

By preserving Steinberg’s voice and insights, this volume underscores the enduring value of informed, thoughtful music criticism not only for listeners but also for performers and institutions. His legacy reflects a period when the critic’s perspective was considered integral to the vitality and understanding of classical music, an ideal facing new challenges in today’s rapidly evolving media landscape.

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